Narrator
Ian Caplin, Regulatory Stewardship Team, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Interviewees
Ashlee Bowles, Senior Policy Analyst and Project Lead, Ministry for Social Development
Jason Kiss, Web Standards Consultant, Te Tari Taiwhenua – Internal Affairs
Introduction
(Background music: Piano jingle. Better Rules - Better Outcomes white logo is displayed on blue background, followed by the video title page with the words "Case study: Web Accessibility Standard". Music continues as the logos of Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, and Te Tari Taiwhenua - Internal Affairs are displayed. Ian Caplin is the narrator - a man with reddish-brown hair – and is standing in front of the camera. He is wearing a dark suit, blue shirt, and red tie. In the background are some meeting rooms.)
Ian Caplin: Tēnā tatou katoa (greetings to you all)
My name is Ian Caplin from the Regulatory Stewardship team here at MBIE.
And I'm here to talk to you today about Better Rules – Better Outcomes in actual practice and to see how the Better Rules methodology has made things better.
Better Rules means the rules and laws written in Parliament or by Ministers in the Beehive are easy to understand for the public and government who need to follow them. And at the very essence of things, by people and software in an increasingly digital world.
This video looks at Better Rules - Better Outcomes in action. We ask 7 questions about the approach taken by the Ministry of Social Development in reviewing the Web Accessibility Standard.
(Background music continues. Just after Ian says, “We ask 7 questions about the approach taken by the Ministry of Social Development in reviewing the Web Accessibility Standard” the following text displayed in white on a blue background: Question One: What was the problem?”)
Ian Caplin: First up what was the problem being faced?
(The first interviewee – Ashlee Bowles – appears on screen. Ashlee has dark hair and is wearing a black shirt. She is sitting at a table facing the camera and a glass of water is sitting on the table beside her. Her name and job title are also displayed on screen.)
Ashlee Bowles: The problem was with the New Zealand Government's Web Accessibility Standard. We have this Standard and it's all about promoting equal access to online information and services. Unfortunately, compliance with this Standard was reportedly low. That creates issues because it means that some people can't access crucial online information, and this became a real issue following the COVID-19 outbreak when Government information increasingly shifted to being delivered online.
(Just after Ashlee says the words “became a real issue following the COVID-19 outbreak…” the image switches that of a woman, with blond hair, sitting in on a park bench and looking at her mobile phone. She has blond hair and is wearing a sleeveless black dress. She has tattoos on her arms. After Ashlee says the words “we thought one of the issues with low compliance…” the image switches from the woman in the park back to Ashlee, siting in the same position looking to camera.)
Ashlee: We thought that one of the issues with low compliance could have been ambiguity; people just not understanding what was expected of them or required of them under the Standard.
(Background music continues. Just after Ashlee says, “what was expected of them or required under the standard” the following text displayed in white on a blue background: Question Two: How did Better Rules help with this problem?”. The video then returns to Ian, who is walking towards the camera while asking the following question.)
Ian: A key problem. But how did Better Rules help with this problem?
(While Ashlee says the words “The Better Rules approach just provided a really structured and methodical way of reviewing the Standard”, some footage is shown of a woman looking at their laptop and scrolling through content on her screen. The camera returns to Ashlee when starts saying “it basically enabled us to break down the Standard…”.)
Ashlee: The Better Rules approach just provided a really structured and methodical way of reviewing the Standard.
It basically enabled us to break down the Standard to its core concepts, understand how they relate to one another, and then bring it back together again using really clear rule statements. Using the multi-disciplinary group was also ideal throughout so that we knew we were asking the right questions and resolving the right issues at the right time.
(Just after Ashlee says, “we knew we were asking the right questions…” the following text in white is displayed on a blue background: Question Three: What parts of Better Rules were used?” and the question is voiced by Ian.)
Ian Caplin: What parts of Better Rules we used?
(Video shows Ashlee talking. She is still sitting at the table, facing the camera.)
Ashlee Bowles: We used all components of the approach.
So, we used concept models to break down the Standard to its component parts We also used decision trees to understand how they kind of related together, and then rule statements.
We didn't use the rules as code component because that was out of scope, but the focus was really on the rules, making sure that they were clear and concise.
(Just after Ashlee says, “but the focus was really on the rules, making sure that they were clear and concise” the following text is displayed in white on a blue background: Question Four: How did it work in practice?”. The video then returns to Ian, who is walking towards the camera while asking the following question.)
Ian Caplin: All good in theory, but how did it actually work in practice?
(Video cuts back to Ashlee talking. She is still sitting at the table, facing the camera.)
Ashlee Bowles: It was fantastic. It provided a really structured and methodical way of reviewing the Standard.
(Just as Ashlee says, “I think there were a couple of things that really helped to support its success”, the video shows a man, sitting in a park, looking at their laptop. He is wearing glasses and blue shirt with jeans.)
I think there were a couple of things that really helped to support its success. Those included things like, spending some time upfront getting the multi-disciplinary team right so making sure and understanding who needed to be represented on that team and how to get those people in the room while keeping the group focused and tight.
(When Ashlee says “…and how to get those people in the room…” the video footage returns to her talking.)
Also, what approach works for you and also the team how many workshops you want to hold, how you want to hold them and how you want to draft and present information. Setting expectations was also incredibly important not only about what to expect from the project so with a detailed project plan but also what to expect from the Better Rules approach itself.
(When Ashlee says “but also what to expect from the Better Rules approach itself, the video footage cuts to a woman sitting in a grey work cubicle. She has blond hair tied in a ponytail and is wearing a black top with an orange and green floral print. The footage returns to Ashlee when she says “…we were asking people to come to the table to help us identify problems…).
We used an overview document for this and then also what participants could expect in the workshops, so it was a bit of a different way of working we were asking people to come to the table to help us identify problems, but also bring possible solutions to the table so that was a new way of working for some people. Aligning myself with people who had used the approach before was also invaluable.
(The second interviewee – Jason Kiss – appears on screen. He has dark hair, a beard and is wearing glasses. He is wearing a white shirt. He is sitting facing the camera. There is a door behind him and a semi-transparent windowpane.)
Jason Kiss: In terms of the Better Rules approach itself it was pretty easy and straightforward to map that to the Web Accessibility Standard and we got some good results that way from putting that analytical framework across the Web Accessibility Standard.
(Just after Jason says “…across the Web Accessibility Standard”, the following text is displayed in white on a blue background: Question Five: What challenges had to be overcome? The video returns to Ian, who is now outside and The Beehive parliament building can be seen in the background.)
Ian Caplin: What challenges had to be overcome?
(Video cuts to Ashlee is talking to camera.)
Ashlee Bowles: There were 2 challenges: The first was the pandemic. So COVID-19 had just happened, and people were still getting used to the idea of collaborating online and attending meetings virtually. We held all of our workshops online, so this was something for people to get used to.
The second was adaptation of the Better Rules products themselves. We needed to adapt each of the products and the way in which they were presented in a couple of different formats for each of the workshops to make sure they were accessible to everyone participating.
(Video cuts to Jason talking to camera.)
Jason Kiss: With regards to the workshops, the content is admittedly complex and technical, and I think that prevented a number of the participants from being able to contribute substantively to actually applying the Better Rules process to the Web Accessibility Standard, and we probably could've used smaller groups.
(Just after Jason says “…we probably could have used smaller groups”, the following text is displayed in white on a blue background: Question Six: What were the benefits? The video returns to Ian, who is sitting on a high-backed seat, with striped material. There are offices and meeting rooms in the background.)
Ian Caplin: It's critical that Better Rules delivers benefits. What was the benefit to you?
(Video cuts to Jason talking to camera.)
Jason Kiss: I think the benefits were 2: Just learning about the Better Rules process in more detail was really useful to me as someone who writes standards. But also, with regards to the Web Accessibility Standard itself being able to apply the Better Rules approach and translate the Web Accessibility Standard into concept models, decision model and rule statements made it very easy to see where the Web Accessibility Standard was lacking, where there were some gaps and issues around comprehension that we could improve.
So, getting some really solid feedback through the Better Rules process was a true benefit.
(Just after Jason says “…made it very easy to see where the Web Accessibility Standard was lacking…” the video cuts to footage of a person typing on a keyboard. There is also a tablet in the shot, and it is sitting on a white table. There is some B-roll footage of some of the people from earlier in the video. Video then cuts back to Ashlee talking to camera.)
Ashlee Bowles: The benefit for us was definitely that the approach provided a really structured and methodical way of reviewing a pretty technical standard. It enabled us to breakdown the Standard to its core concepts and then put it back together again using really clear, concise rule statements. It got rid of some of that ambiguity.
(Just after Ashlee says, “It got rid of some of that ambiguity.” the following text in white on a blue background: Question Seven: Would you use Better Rules again? And you can hear Ian’s voice reading out the same question.)
Ian Caplin: Would you use Better Rules again?
Ashlee Bowles: I absolutely would use the Better Rules approach again. It provides such a structured and methodical framework for working through a technical policy issue. Especially at the moment in the COVID-19 environment where we're developing a lot of policy at pace and things are needing to be very dynamic. Where time allows, it would be a great approach to ensure we're well set up for the future.
(Just after Ashlee says “… it would be a great approach to ensure we’re well set up for the future.” The Better Rules – Better Outcomes logo is displayed in white on a blue background. As Ian says “…for more information”, the Better Rules website URL is displayed in white text on the same blue background.)
Ian Caplin: Well, there you have it – Better Rules in practice.
For more information, visit betterrules.govt.nz
User guide 1: Decision analysis [PDF 422KB]